Part 13-5
“Subhuti, what do you think—can the Realised One be seen by way of the thirty-two marks?” “No, World Honoured One, the Realised One cannot be seen by way of the thirty-two marks. Why? The thirty-two marks explained by the Realised One are not marks, they are just called the thirty-two marks.”
Commentary:
As consistently mentioned, the core of the Buddha’s teaching is that everything seen and heard in this world is the Buddha. To realise this and reach the Pure Land, one must see and hear all things as they truly are without being deceived by forms, or names.
To specifically show his disciples how to see clearly without being deceived, the Buddha stated in parts 13-1 and 13-2 that even the Perfect Wisdom he taught is not Perfect Wisdom, but merely named so. In part 13-3, he went as far as saying he had never taught any Dharma. Here, he further warns not to be deceived even by the physical appearance of the Buddha. He refers to the thirty-two Marks (physical characteristics of a Buddha) mentioned in the Madhyama Agama, stating that the thirty-two Marks are not the thirty-two Marks; they are merely named the thirty-two Marks.
The True Buddha (Buddha-nature), which is the essence of both Sakyamuni Buddha and ourselves, has no beginning or end, and possesses no form or name. However, people are constantly deceived by appearances.
The Avatamsaka Sutra warns:
Those who are deluded and lack knowledge
take only the forms of the Four Elements and Five Aggregates.
Because they do not know the true-Self,
they fail to see the Buddha.
Even if one sees the Buddha constantly for hundreds of thousands of eons,
if they do not rely on the True Principle
and only look at Sakyamuni Buddha as the Buddha,
they are merely clinging to form.
They will only increase the net of foolish doubt
and remain imprisoned in the cycle of birth and death.
This means that if we mistake the physical body (composed of the four elements and five aggregates) of Sakyamuni Buddha for the True Buddha, we cannot escape birth and death. Just as the term Perfect Wisdom was an expedient means to reveal the true-Self, the thirty-two Marks were also not intended as literal descriptions, but as tools to reveal the formless true-Self.
As ancient masters said, “If words are not words, then every word is the true-Self.” To truly read the scriptures is to see every single letter and word as the functioning of the true-Self. When you can see the true-Self even within the phrase thirty-two Marks, you are reading this Sutra correctly.
Disciple: “What does the Buddha look like?”
Master: “He possesses the thirty-two Marks.”
Disciple: “The Buddha taught that the thirty-two Marks are not the thirty-two Marks but merely a name, warning us not to be deceived by words and forms. Why then do you say he has the thirty-two Marks?”
Master: “Because you are still being deceived by words and forms.”
If you know the thirty-two Marks are not the thirty-two Marks,
you will see the Buddha within those very marks.
This is because illusions themselves are enlightenment.
Koan:
Yabo said, “Having borrowed the grandmother’s clothes, one bows to the grandmother.”
Question: What is the meaning of Yabo’s statement?
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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